Chapter 4: The Losing Gain...
This was my situation: I'm facing off against Hansen while Sara watched from the sidelines. Hansen ordered his bugs to shoot Solar and Hyper Beams at me and Pikachu. With Sara and Togepi to protect, I'm pretty much going to eat it big time. I crossed my arms. Futile, I know. They won't help. KABLAM! Hm? That's odd. I feel fine. I'm still thinking calmly. Huh? What the- Hansen's Pokémon don't look too good. It's like they were the ones hit with the beams. What happen? Did Misty's Togepi learn Mirror Coat? I saw Hansen's face and he was intimidated. I gazed over at Sara- Why was she looking at me? She was in bad fear. Wait...was it something I did? "I-I-Impossible!" Hansen stuttered. If those two were in disbelief, wonder what the others still stuck in the Togepi Paradise?
"What was that...blue glow?" Sara hushed. A blue glow? And it wasn't from Togepi? Or Pikachu?
"Wait a second," I shot my voice. "Are you saying that...that I sent those attacks back?" If I did...how exactly did I? I'm not a Pokémon, let alone know any attacks I could use. Even staring at my hands couldn't fathom the fact that I would come up with some way to bounce the beams back. Hold on! Shedinja and the Ninjask were weakened by that bounce back. I could finish it off here and stop Hansen for good. "Well, I'm not sure how I did it but at least I know what to do now! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu launched his Thunderbolt which hit all the bugs. That should do it. Those three fell in defeat. Hansen, it's over.
"Shedinja!" he screeched. "Ninjask!" How's that? I'd like to see them recover fast. Looking at Hansen, he didn't like the fact that Pikachu and I whooped his Pokémon.
"Give it up, Hansen. You've lost." That's when I saw Hansen reaching under his cape. I don't know what he's got but I don't think I'll give him a chance to use it. "I don't think so. Pikachu, Quick Attack-" Huh? Nozzles shot from the ground and pointed right at us. If they're loaded... I hate to think about the issue Hansen had with us other than withholding Togepi from him. The nozzles fired. Smoke! We were all consumed by the choking smoke. I can't see anything. The smoke was thick! There was a brief patch of fresh air. I looked and there was Hansen. BANG! Oof!
…
…
"...sh! Ash!" I...heard...voices. My...head...hurt. I was... What happened? A light? Wh...What's going on? "Ash!" M...Mist...y? I...have to...open... My friends!
"He's finally coming around," Brock realized. Man...I... I had...a splitting...headache. "Hey, buddy. You feeling okay?" Do I...look okay? "He took that scepter to the head hard. No surprise that he was knocked cold for two hours." Two- Two hours? Wait!
"Where's the princess?" I snapped out as I sat up. May and Misty grasped me in an attempt for restraint. Sara was gone.
"Slow down, Ash!" May jumped. "You're hurt!" I'm hurt but this place... This place will feel a bigger hurt if Hansen- Urgh! The pain!
"You've done enough to protect us, Ash," Misty tried to comfort me. "Let us finish the job." Yeah, okay. Let me rest my injury and- No! I can't rest and know that Sara- I mean, Togepi was in danger. This was my passion. I want to train Pokémon. I want to befriend Pokémon. I want to protect Pokémon. I fought my way onto my feet to the chagrin of my friends. "Ash, don't! You'll further hurt your wounds!" And Misty had the urge to latch onto me.
"Let me go!" I roared. This is a level of anger I haven't experienced. I was mad at Hansen for his sneak attack and capture of Togepi. I saw Pikachu squeaking me to calm down as well.
("You're no good if you're badly hurt!") he argued. Suddenly, I had a moment of mental restraint, like my head delivered a static shock to me. I eased myself. Pikachu was my partner through thick and thin. This was thick. Yeah, I'm no good in the condition I was in.
"Sorry." Here I was, letting my emotions about Hansen get the better of me. He wouldn't accept losing and bashed my head in and now he's got Misty's Togepi and Princess Sara. That's when May decided to bring a minor detail to the floor.
"By the way, what the heck are you, really?" she questioned. What the heck am I? A human. I'm no different than you...other than gender. "I don't recall someone glowing blue and reflecting attacks like Solar Beam and Hyper Beam." So it was me. I was...the one who sent those beams back. And here I was, thinking Togepi learned Mirror Coat.
"I think we can save that for another time. Right now, there's the ceremony going on and we need to get there and rescue Togepi. What we need is a strategy against Shedinja and Ninjask." Back to my old self again. It's not that I was going to rescue Sara. It was payback.
"The strategy seems pretty obvious," Max spoke up. "Both Shedinja and Ninjask are Bug Pokémon, and Shedinja has an extra attribute being a Ghost-type." Oh yeah. If Max helped me with that, it's a Ghost-type's weakness.
"So what we need is a Fire-type Pokémon and I know one who has that," Brock continued. We all looked to May. Why? She had a Fire-type.
"Right!" she realized. "Torchic!" That's her starter Pokémon she got from Prof. Birch. I just happened to speak next.
"Let's not forget about fliers as well," I added. "So Beautifly and Taillow should come well into play." May bobbed her head to agree. Well, we should go. I released my baby black bird with the feisty attitude. May released her blackish butterfly with a long, stringy nose. It had large blue eyes, paper thin yellow wings with bits of red and blue on it and a white underbelly.
"Beautifly, Taillow, search the kingdom for Togepi." Both wingers obeyed and scattered over the land. We chose to scatter ourselves. With our luck, we may be able to find out more about where Hansen had taken Togepi and Sara. As we made an approach to the castle, there was a huge blast. Don't tell me Hansen was going to use his Pokémon to kill the-
"We're blasting off again!" yelled...Team Rocket as they were sent to the great beyond. Well, at least I didn't have to face them. Miranda had a bad feeling about what may be going on.
"When Ash was knocked unconscious by Hansen's staff, he had a lot of work using the ceremony to crown himself," she figured. "If the king is in good condition, he and the queen would be locked up in the dungeon." I didn't really think Hansen would simply put the king into the dungeon if he treated me like dirt. Then it hit me. Hansen used Sara as a bargaining chip to force the king to submit the throne. That could explain why Hansen would kidnap the princess and the Pokémon.
"Miranda, I'll make sure the king and queen see their daughter once again as well as recapture Togepi from Hansen," I promised. Miranda seemed pleased that I would dedicate that much to do the following.
"Are you sure that you can do that?" I flopped a nod to advise her that there's nothing too big to worry about. Even Misty had to back me up on it.
"This is pretty much Ash's hour," she calmly said. "In times like this, he always shows a will and finds a way to solve the problems." Couldn't have said it better myself.
"If you can, you'll be beyond qualifications to be a prince. I could tell the king to retire and let you run the kingdom." Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves. That's when the fliers returned to us. Let's hope they had luck trying to find the king or the princess.
"Taillow, did you find anything?" I asked. Taillow shook no.
"How about you, Beautifly?" May wondered. A sad tone from Beautifly...that's a no as well.
"I have an idea," Brock announced. "Ash, Misty, May, the crowning ceremony should be taking place any minute. There's no doubt the princess and Togepi should be there. Max, Miranda and I will head to the dungeon to free the king." We all nodded to the idea. I can finally get my hands on Hansen. So now it was me, Misty and May going to the temple. It wasn't long before Hansen came out, two trophies in each hand. Well, he had Togepi in one arm and had Sara on a collar. She fought to remove the collar but it was on so tight.
"It's best to respect your new king, Princess," he scowled. "You don't want to jeopardize your royal neck by struggling." Oh, like he knows what it takes to be a ruler? He rose Togepi. "Now, Togepi, use Metronome! Use the latent power within you to unlock the gates that bind our worlds-"
"You're staying right here!" I shouted. The two heard me well and turned to us. Hansen wasn't happy to see me. When would he be? Sara was glad I was up and about.
"Gimme Togepi now!" Misty ordered.
"Yeah, you're surrounded!" May incorrectly shouted. Nevertheless, I had to speak out.
"Even now, your presence is destroying the world of the Togepi," I warned him. "Or are you so thick-headed that even the truth doesn't concern you?" Hansen was in no listening mood.
"Ninjask, Shadow Ball!" he commanded. Here came the Ninjask. May was on top of that.
"Go, Torchic," she summoned from her Pokéball. "Ember!" The ball popped open and revealed an orange baby chick. Well, that's Torchic and it fired volleys of red burning pellets. It hit one but the other formed a black ball. Shadow Ball! "Watch out!" Torchic tried to move but it tripped and got nailed by that Shadow Ball. That had to be severe. "Torchic, return!" The Pokéball retrieved Torchic. My turn.
"Pikachu, Thunder!" I called out. Pikachu fired a massive bolt, stronger than Thunderbolt. It hit both Ninjask and knocked them out. There's still Shedinja.
"Shedinja, use Solar Beam!" he ordered as his Shedinja made another appearance. Shedinja powered and fired that Solar Beam once more. I stuck my hand out. Yeah, what good would that do? That's when I get this weird feeling. This had to be what I used to return the beams before. I chose to swat it back. I swung my arm like a baseball bat. BOOM! The beam was knocked right back at Shedinja who was stunned. However, it dodged the attack. It missed everything. Shedinja fired once more. However...BOOM! A shield stopped it. We were a bit stunned.
"No way! Is that Safeguard?" When the light dimmed, there was another Togepi. It was one from Paradise. The door to the other side was open and more Togepi came through. Why did they come? Misty's Togepi? They all began to sway their little arms back and forth. That was Metronome, an ability where any attack can be used. All of their hands shot up and they all began to glow blue before beams struck Misty's Togepi. They were feeding power into Togepi. It was Helping Hand. Then, a barrier sprung out. It sent Hansen back a couple feet for Togepi to escape. Then came the unbelievable. Togepi was glowing...and changing. When the glow stopped, Togepi wasn't itself. Togepi was whiter, bigger and had wings. "Togepi?" No longer.
"It evolved!" May gasped. She brought out her PokéDex to identify the evolved Togepi.
"Togetic, the happiness Pokémon," it computed. "Togetic is the evolved form of Togepi. Togetic shares happiness and fortune to those with pure hearts." Togetic, huh? Togetic flew happily down and into the waiting arms of Misty.
"Togetic!" she cried in happy tears.
("Mom!") it shrilled out.
"So, you're okay?"
("Better than ever!") That's good to hear.
"All right!" That's when Togetic shot a daring glare at Hansen before flying up to the other Togepi. "Where are you going?" A huddle with the others?
("Let's get into Safeguard formation!") The other Togepi listened and floated into a spaced position. Hansen was ticked that the Togepi he was holding evolved.
"You dare evolve?" he snarled. "Never mind, the end is near. Shedinja, Solar Beam!" One more Solar Beam was fired. It didn't get close since Safeguard was raised. "So much for guardian Pokémon relying on defense only." This dude needed to get a clue.
"You're missing a key factor in this!" I roared. Hansen shot a look at me. "What you see is defense versus offense when the real factor is kindness versus impurity. Mainly, all of us against you, a man who reveals no respect for the caring and compassionate. We are the youth who can triumph against those who only see violence." Let's see, it's Togetic, a group of Togepi, Pikachu May, Misty and myself versus Hansen and his only fighting Pokémon, Shedinja. When I said fighting, I did not mean Fighting-Type. That's when the Safeguard brightened. It blinded Hansen. I had to make my... I should say our move. Pikachu and I dashed over. Pikachu used Iron Tail and thwacked Hansen's arm, breaking the grip on the collar. I snagged the rope but never used it as I got to Sara and hustled her over to our side. Misty saw the clearance.
"Good work Ash," she said. "Leave the rest to me." Misty, I recall that you're the Cerulean City gym leader who specializes in Water-Type Pokémon. Not real good with bugs. Still, Togetic ceased Safeguard and acknowledged her idea as she launched her Pokéball. "Garydos, I choose you!" Gary-? No way! The ball opened and out came a giant blue sea serpent with a huge mouth. Garydos? That was a surprise I didn't think she had up her- Wait, she doesn't have sleeves.
"A Garydos? Whoa, when did Misty learn to use a Garydos?" Think I was the only one who was shocked that Misty had the only Water-Type she disliked the most?
("Doesn't she hate Garydos?") Pikachu gasped. Still, Hansen, despite losing Sara by Pikachu's tail, think she was in over her head.
"Do you really think that a Water-Type Pokémon can beat my Shedinja?" he grinned. Misty smiled greatly at Hansen. She had something up that... why do I keep referring sleeves when I know she had none?
"I don't think," she counter grinned. "I know. Flamethrower!" Flamethrower? Misty taught Garydos a fire attack? Garydos spat out a huge stream of fire and caught Shedinja fully...as well as Hansen. Both were burnt. Shedinja collapsed. It was defeated.
"Shedinja, no!" Yes, Hansen. That did the job.
"No way," May hushed in awe. "With just one attack?" That's right, Shedinja was a bug and Ghost-type Pokémon. Still, I was amazed.
"How cool is that?" I gulped.
"Well, I say it's very cool," Misty snickered. "Water Pokémon can also use fire abilities." Well, something I didn't know until now. Maybe I could train my Corphish to use Fire Punch with those pincers it has. Garydos roared down onto Hansen who was...bitter about the defeat.
"Why you sniveling Pokémon," he growled back. "I should-"
"Hansen!" sounded...the king. He, along with the queen, Brock, Max, Miranda...and a fleet of soldiers arrived. I got to work and removed the collar with ease. When I looked at Hansen once more, his beard cindered off as well as an eyebrow. That was a little too good of a Flamethrower. "Hansen, you're finished! Guards, seize him!"
"Sire!" the guards obeyed and surrounded Hansen. Seeing the truth for the first time, and possibly his last, he gave up. Finally. The guards shackled him from head to toe and carried him off like a pig on a rolling log over a fire pit. Seeing him carried off to the dungeon like that, Sara giggled in a relief that it was finally over. Then, she gave me a pretty soft hug. You know, she's been through a lot today. I bobbed Misty and Togetic over to join a group hug. It was sympathy I thought about giving her. I guess when I go home...I'll give my mom a big hug. She sorta taught me how to have a little too much fun but still, it's my fault for making her worry. With Hansen ridden of, the kingdom should be in peace.
TO BE CONCLUDED... (Congrats to Spain for their first ever FIFA World Cup Championship after defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in Extra Time.)